okay, we all love tinks and wish him the very best at oregon state. he's one of our own, and we couldn't be more proud of him and his family. but in his last year as head coach at montana, he left behind a statistical trail--some good, some ugly. let's look.
the good:
--rate of turnovers: fourth best in the country. teriffic. any coach or fan will tell you, turnovers kill 'ya. wayne's teams got that message, and he was quick to mention that when he met the press for the first time at oregon state.
--field goal percentage: 47.7%. 23rd in the country. very good.
--3 point field goal percentage: 37.4%. 59nth in the country. again, pretty good.
--free throw percentage: 73.8%, 42nd in the country. very good.
the bad:
--rebounding: almost the worst in the entire country. of 345 teams reporting at the d1 level, montana ranked #344. virtually, dead last.
--field goal defensive percentage: 47.5%. this was awful, ranking us 326 out of 345. in the jud heatchote and mike montgomery eras, montana was almost always among the national leaders in field goal percentage defense. it was one statistic a montana fan could always look to with pride, and a huge reason montana was so consistently good for so many years. neither heathcote nor montgomery would have tolerated 47.5%.
--assists per game. 268th out of 345. that puts us well in the bottom third in the country. it seems to me for a team that is passing the ball, finding the open man and playing as a cohesive unit, that is not a good statistic.
a few conclusions:
--our shooting kept us in most games. we all knew that.
--our rebounding killed us, and we all knew that. rebounding is partly height and muscle, but equal parts determination and toughness. krysko was not the most physically blessed player of his era, nor was dennis rodman during that incredible stretch that he dominated rebounding stats in the nba. but both krysko and rodman played with incredible determinantion, even meanness. neither would be denied going after a rebound. our guys were denied. you can't finish almost dead last in the country and say that that your players were determined or mean enough, no matter their size.
--the field goal percentage defense was terrible. first explanation is, our interior defense was awful, so opponents got a lot of close-in, high-percentage shots. but again, isn't defense partly about hustle, determiantion and coaching strategy? to finish 326th out of 345 teams in the country in this category is just plain not acceptible.
--same is true of assists, ranking well into the bottom third in the country. i am all about moving the ball, passing the ball, "hot-potato, hot-potato." in my opinion, there is simply too much one-on-one in both the pro and college game. carmelo anthony is the poster child for this, when he said to him, ball movement is moving the ball from one hand to the next. say what you want, but teams that pass the ball effectively should not rank so low in the country in assists per game.
tinks can hand out all the drinks he wants on the quad at oregon state. he can hand out ten dollar bills, condoms and refridgerators, for that matter. but if he doesn't win at oregon state, he won't put butts in seats. and he won't win if he doesn't improve on some of the ugly statistics he left in his final year at montana.
the good:
--rate of turnovers: fourth best in the country. teriffic. any coach or fan will tell you, turnovers kill 'ya. wayne's teams got that message, and he was quick to mention that when he met the press for the first time at oregon state.
--field goal percentage: 47.7%. 23rd in the country. very good.
--3 point field goal percentage: 37.4%. 59nth in the country. again, pretty good.
--free throw percentage: 73.8%, 42nd in the country. very good.
the bad:
--rebounding: almost the worst in the entire country. of 345 teams reporting at the d1 level, montana ranked #344. virtually, dead last.
--field goal defensive percentage: 47.5%. this was awful, ranking us 326 out of 345. in the jud heatchote and mike montgomery eras, montana was almost always among the national leaders in field goal percentage defense. it was one statistic a montana fan could always look to with pride, and a huge reason montana was so consistently good for so many years. neither heathcote nor montgomery would have tolerated 47.5%.
--assists per game. 268th out of 345. that puts us well in the bottom third in the country. it seems to me for a team that is passing the ball, finding the open man and playing as a cohesive unit, that is not a good statistic.
a few conclusions:
--our shooting kept us in most games. we all knew that.
--our rebounding killed us, and we all knew that. rebounding is partly height and muscle, but equal parts determination and toughness. krysko was not the most physically blessed player of his era, nor was dennis rodman during that incredible stretch that he dominated rebounding stats in the nba. but both krysko and rodman played with incredible determinantion, even meanness. neither would be denied going after a rebound. our guys were denied. you can't finish almost dead last in the country and say that that your players were determined or mean enough, no matter their size.
--the field goal percentage defense was terrible. first explanation is, our interior defense was awful, so opponents got a lot of close-in, high-percentage shots. but again, isn't defense partly about hustle, determiantion and coaching strategy? to finish 326th out of 345 teams in the country in this category is just plain not acceptible.
--same is true of assists, ranking well into the bottom third in the country. i am all about moving the ball, passing the ball, "hot-potato, hot-potato." in my opinion, there is simply too much one-on-one in both the pro and college game. carmelo anthony is the poster child for this, when he said to him, ball movement is moving the ball from one hand to the next. say what you want, but teams that pass the ball effectively should not rank so low in the country in assists per game.
tinks can hand out all the drinks he wants on the quad at oregon state. he can hand out ten dollar bills, condoms and refridgerators, for that matter. but if he doesn't win at oregon state, he won't put butts in seats. and he won't win if he doesn't improve on some of the ugly statistics he left in his final year at montana.
